EX4 Bass- Day 1

[samatizer03]

Hello everyone! Today is the day I start assembling my EX4 bass. Right out of the box, I think I have ran into a couple of issues. Firstly, the positioning of the hole that connects both pickups to the rest of the electronics seems to be a little high, and I can't insert the bridge pickup without the wires making it lopsided. Secondly, the area where the neck and body connect have different profiles, so the neck doesn't reach the back of the hole in the body. If anyone has any advice or suggestions, I have attached a picture showing both issues, and your help is appreciated!

[FrankenWashie]

Hi samatizer03 Welcome to the forum family!

Not sure how well equipped with tooling etc you are, or how confident you are with basic woodworking. The advice below is based on what I would do in your situation, and can be achieved if you have access to a suitable cordless drill and a nearby Bunnings style big box hardware store equivalent for a long drill bit and some basic sandpaper supplies. I'm thinking for your neck of the woods maybe that would be a Lowes, Walmart maybe Harbor Freight or similar?

For the wiring issue, it may be possible to redrill below the existing hole into the bottom corner, if you can get a hold of a long series Auger bit, maybe 1/4" diameter or so. Tape some card down to the top of the body where the bit would pass the rout edge to protect it from damage from the bit and probably wrap the free length of the bit as well.

The neck heel looks to have a much tighter radius on the corners than the neck pocket so it may just be a case of using a flat file or rasp to shape those corners to the pocket. You can also do this with a flat piece of MDF or hardwood, with some 80grit sandpaper stuck to it.

Before you do that though:
1. Check your scale length to the existing bridge position (34" scale length according to the specs), with the neck sat in the pocket as is.
- If your scale is at 34" or there abouts, you will shorten it by moving the neck further back into the pocket.
- Anything you lose by moving the neck deeper, you need to add by shifting the bridge back, if you don't have enough movement in the saddle adjustment to compensate for that movement.


2. Check the bottom of the pocket corners to make sure there is no remnants or left overs from the routing (little ledges, missed passes that might be obstructing the neck heel from seating all the way back, it does happen from time to time)

If you've established that your scale length will be fine, and you want to reshape that neck heel, then just go slowly and check frequently by test fitting to the pocket every so often during your re-shaping.
You can normally get that heel set tight up against the body and eliminate the gap by working methodically and carefully.

If you want to get all fancy, you can make up a cardboard template of the pocket, and see how that fits to the heel, this will show you how much work the corners need. This method is good if you aren't hugely confident in your woodworking skills as it will show you how far you have to shape.

Once you've got the basic shape roughed in, and you are happy with the adjusted fit, run up through the grits sizes to smooth off, probably stop at 320-400 to allow for stain or finish on the maple.

Hope this makes sense and helps out.

[McCreed]

Welcome samatizer!

Great advice from FrankenWashie too.

The only thing I'll add re: the pickup wire hole is that it shouldn't require drilling all the way through to the control cavity.
Just drill as near to the bottom of the pickup route as you can get, and just far enough that the bit it intersects the existing hole.

Depending on your level of experience, trying to drill a fresh hole all the way through can end in tears if you miss the cavity!

[FrankenWashie]

Welcome samatizer!

Great advice from FrankenWashie too.

The only thing I'll add re: the pickup wire hole is that it shouldn't require drilling all the way through to the control cavity.
Just drill as near to the bottom of the pickup route as you can get, and just far enough that the bit it intersects the existing hole.

Depending on your level of experience, trying to drill a fresh hole all the way through can end in tears if you miss the cavity!

That's a good point McCreed, you'd just need to be 100% sure you can clear all the shavings and fragments.

[wazkelly]

Hi Samatizer.

Agree with comments already posted.

Only thing I might do differently would be to create a channel under Bridge Pickup to allow cables to sit below 'sea level' and clear the edges of pickup housing. If you are nervous about drilling out the rather high-set cable hole to control cavity maybe a very fine chisel could be the answer. You only need to enlarge the hole down to base of the bridge pickup cavity but a bigger diameter on the way through would be ok too.

As for neck pocket and scale length it looks like your kit has been pre-drilled for the 3 point Gibbo style bridge and recommend loosely placing bridge in correct position, then measure 34" from top of G string saddle to inner side of where same string goes through the nut and see how well the neck sits in pocket. If it looks like a bit of reshaping is required go slowly, but if it sits OK you may just have to live with a small gap at end of neck pocket.

Scale length is most important and 1st place to start with trying to figure out what to do.

Cheers, Waz

[JimC]

Must admit I'd just do the pickup cable with a sharp craft knife or similar, although a chisel would be great too. Doesn't need a straight run for the cable at all, just enough room to avoid kinks and pressure. I'd avoid using a drill because its so easy to mark the body face with the chuck.
Agree with others about neck and vital importance of scale length.